One more thing...

Another thing I had forgotten to mention. My blog is now public. Before it was private, but towards the end of the project, since it wasn't violating anyone else's privacy, I decided to make it public since it was much easier than adding all of my evaluators. Enjoy everyone!

The finished product

Sorry this is so late! During my presentation, I realized that I had left my shirt at home after trying it out. It's a pity I could only show you one of the pieces that I had completed. Here is the other one...

Last Post

This is my last post, and farewell. I've decided that I won't give you any updates now until my presentation. There's one more dress to be completed, so you'll just have to wait and see! It'll be a surprise!

Library Book 4

Fashion: Color, Line, and Design
by Susan Geringer
Third Edition

This book has SOOOO much info!! I have been using all of these library books since I got them, but mainly looking for specific things, and not just flipping through idly. I won't be able to take notes on this one like I did on the other ones, because otherwise I will be writing all night long. To give you an idea of the breadth of information that this book covers, I'm going to try to summarize
1. Color
a) Psychology of color and symbolism- how color makes people feel, and traditional colors (white for a western wedding)
in order of preference from liked to less liked, colors are ranked as such: blue, red, green, violet, orange, and yellow
People usually like light more than dark colors, and primaries (red, yellow, blue used to mix all other colors) and pure colors more than intermediates (combination of colors) and grayed ones
introverts like neutral, extroverts like bright, neutral considered more sophisticated
hot climates, cool colors, cool climates, warm colors
Color gives messages and causes reactions- increase heart rate w/ red, decrease w/ blue
favorite colors show personality (my favorite is orange/yellow- orange is exciting and glowing, yellow, most luminous, is cheerful, creative, intellectual, but also least liked because think of sickness and cowardice)
bright colors, good mood, dark colors, bad mood
color/patterns must be used either traditionally, or very unorthodox

Chapter 2- Clothing Details
gives an overview of standard shapes and cuts in clothing (A-line skirt, camisole, dress shirt, draped, blazer, bomber jacket, mandarin, nehru jacket, sweetheart neckline, kimono sleeve etc) and construction detailing (beading, bias, braids, buttons, cording, darts, embroidery, facing, fringe, frogs, hem,  piping...) It goes on for a while, and is very dated (grossly dated... sometimes it makes you cringe. Seriously, a safari jacket?? Pedal pushers?????), and is pretty much vocab, and lists pretty much everything they can think of, so we shall skip this part, though some of the names are funny, like peplum" (pretty much a tunic and a pencil skirt as a suit), however the names are the same as in Library book 2, so that's reassuring!

Chapter 3- Design Lines
Pretty much how to draw... Did you know an S shaped line is called an Ogee? They also talk about angles, silhouettes (tubular, hourglass, bell, etc), proportion, balance, emphasis, rhythm (repetition in pattern, color, trimming, etc), harmony (unity of the look)

Chapter 4- Fashion Drawing
Basic figure drawing, proportion of human body, and the balance line (your spine), drawing clothing around curves, draped cloth, making it how the customer wants it, body size and figure, and color and texture... I think I got this part down

FINALLY
Chapter 5- History of Costume
Pretty much half of the book, and what I was waiting for.
Reasons to wear clothes: Protection, modesty, adornment, status, belonging to a group, sexual attraction (ooh!)
People either like skinny girls, big buts, or big boobs, or a combo (I'm just turning the technical language into straight forward wording, I promise!)
skinny tubular figure was popular when women had power- look like man, popular in ancient Egypt, flappers, WWII, 1980s
Big bust/waist (bell silhouette) when women were weakest (Victorian times, Southern Belles before Civil War, and 1950s poodle skirt)
Supposedly studies by Harris, Uphan, and Co. to show that women's hemlines were directly proportional to the stock market (also mentioned in Lib book 2)
in the 20th century, fashion inspired/influenced by celebrities and films

Egyptians (2800 BC-300 BC)
sun inspired- rays of the sun in pleating/jewelery
body=soul's temple- well kept- sheer, form fitting clothes showed off body, removed body hair, wore wigs, heavy make-up around eyes (mirrors to the soul)
black kohl around eyes also protected from sun
Men wore shenti around waist- triangle shaped like pyramid
women wore transparent linen gowns, or kalasiris, with pleating and collar

Cretans 2500 BC-1100 BC
vain/proud of bodies, small waists, sew own garments so they were original
considered best dressed women in history
small waists due to soldering belts on children at age six for hourglass figure
chiton- two rectangular cloths attached at shoulder, laced at waist
puffed cap sleeve, bolero jacket, and other styles adopted from neighbors

Greeks influenced by Cretans, esp w/ chiton
himation was outergarment- intricately wrapped, social status implied by draping and control of wearer

Middle Ages- we all know how that looked
However, crusades brought eastern cultures
**gothic movement caused pointy cone hats to emerge, or hennin (think princess hat)- sometimes so long needed servant to follow w/ pitchfork- law passed- length determined by husband's profession
Chopines- extremely high platform shoes
bliaud- tight boddice, full skirt, and long, full sleeves w/ low waistline- most common 12-13 centuries
Maternity became popular at one point due to belief that they had found the Virgin Mary's tunic- pregnancy pillow to look pregnant
*codpiece- sac at men's groin which were decorated and stuffed with fabric or even coins :P
16th century
farthingale- stiff structure under skirt to make it poof out
vasquines- iron corsets w/ bolts to flatten breasts, stomacher flattened stomach
perfumes to disguise that people didn't bathe
big ruffed collars- needed long utensils to eat
Pumpkin breeches- for men, padded on the butt so that resembled pumpkins
Seventeenth Century
"Sun King" Louis XIV
lower necklines, massive hair, small cap for mourning with deep point on forehead known as widow's peak
Men wore huge pants, so padded they were like skirts, and a thin cravat, or tie
18th Century
justaucorps (think Mozart)
wigs less popular
after French Rev, outlandish fashions- long tails, jacket left open because too tight, double breasted buttons, trousers completely visible (no tunic), ankle length, not at knee
youth mocked formality of the king- wore more wrinkled, careless look
... goes on and on in great detail on how the fashion transformed slowly over time...
19th century
Greek look
Godey's Lady Book as first fashion magazine
Dandies- well groomed me (think Napoleon)
Sports wear created
painful lacing and bodices, considered distasteful for women to eat in public- fainted
hourglass figure became more popular, some removed ribs to become thinner, monobosom- leaned forward
20th century
confining garments abandoned after WWI (example, "hobble skirt")
flapper emerged 1920s
1930s thin, long, formfitting (evening gown)
WWII manly look w/ suit w/ big shoulders- display of wealth was tasteless
skirts shortened
gloves popular
miniskirt
two-piece suits
hippie
warp dress
punk/disco
90s layering and drabness...



By the way, I think that this is a textbook, since it has "projects" to do after every chapter. Should have done those...?

Sew Green 6/7

Today I was going to go to Sew Green for an hour after Carrie's presentation, but her community evaluator never showed, and it ended up running late by HALF AN HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thus, I was unable to go to Sew Green, since by the time I actually got there, it wouldn't have been enougth time... This sucks, since Sew Green is closed on Thursday, and now I won't be able to sew all week. I guess it's okay though, since I need to finish my bibliography and research commentary, as well as my research, so I guess it's okay. This will give me more time...

Library Book 3

Fashion Designer
By Miriam Moss

This book looks at the career and life of a Fashion Designer. It's dated, but a mine of info!!!!

The first chapter talks about how some designers create expensive, extravagant haute couture clothing, and others create ready-to-wear "designer label" clothes using fine materials and taste, and lastly, there are mass market ready-to-wear materials made from cheap materials.
Fashion designers have to constantly adapt to the changing styles, and be able to be under the pressure of many deadlines and long hours.
Chapter 2
Most designers go to design school, where they learn technique as well as art. They also choose whether to specialize in women's, men's, or children's clothing, and then what category to specialize in; sportswear, evening wear, lingerie, knitwear... Many have internships, and enter design competitions for exposure in the field, and eventually jobs.
Many start out as assistants
There are three ways of working as a designer: Free-lance (sell to stores, fashion houses, manufacturers, and are labeled by the companies that buy the clothes), work in-house (designers are employed full time by company), and lastly, designers can choose to start their own company. Some designers don't even have formal training, some do, some are lucky, and some never break out.
Some designers used to be architects... Paco Rabanne "It is very important to have access to other ways of creating because all creation is the same gesture. If you can design a dress, you can design a piece of furniture. You have a feel for technique." This is like my thoughts for learning to make clothes! I know how to paint, now why not try clothing?
Chapter 4
Betty Jackson- "Sometimes you rack your brains for the muse to strike and she doesn't and you get in a panic thinking you'll never think of anything again." I really like this quote, since after Judy said at Carrie's presentation that you must force yourself to create everyday, and you can't wait for the muse, it made me feel guilty. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets blocks in thought!
Designers don't just sit around and sketch all day. They usually have to meet deadlines, budgets, cope with stress, and work long hours.
Since designers work for seasons, they have to start a season about a year in advance
Each collection has a theme for inspiration
A team: Fashion designer designs shape/style, knitwear picks color combos and patterns, fabric designer designs fabric for fashion designer, assistants, sample makers, pattern makers
Sketch or drape to work out design, or use old patterns
Think about market, season, and cost
Paper pattern, then MUSLIN- muslin copy called toile (Autumn calls it a sloper), then cardboard copy
Inspiration/FUSION
French designer Jean Louis Scherrer inspired by trip to Rajasthan, India- pant suits, turbans, silks
Brit jewelery designer Dinny Hall inspired by classic domes/spirals
Jean-Paul Gaultier inspired by skeleton
JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER

 



















Isaac Mizrahi inspired by Matisse
Irina Burmistrova uses black plastic, gray foam, garbage bags, cable...
LOOK UP ROMEO GIGLI

Chapter Four
Fashion show- buyers come from all over to view completed collections- buyers, rich, and magazines
In Paris, lasts ten days, with over 40 shows, anywhere from the Louvre to the banks of the Seine
Jean-Paul Gaultier used an abandoned bomb shelter
SEARCH AZZEDINE ALAIA

 YOHJI YAMAMOTO

Major Events

fabric exhibition @ Interstoff Clothing Textiles Trade Fair in April and October- new colors predicted two years in advance

Italy (Milan)- clothing is a large industry, purpose to make sleek designs (Georgio Armani, Versace, Benneton)

London- young, innovative fashion, resist conformity, no barriers

*** One of my favorite London brands is All Saint's*** very edgy- you'll have to see the store, 'cause I couldn't find any good pics online

New York City- led by multimillionaires (Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Christian Lacroix, Oscar de la Renta***)

***LOVE Oscar de la Renta!!! One of my first magazine clippings (see wedding dress post) was a dress by him- see images below

Paris- ship samples to New York for Americans- showcase streets are Fifth Avenue (NY), Bond Street (London), Boulevard Saint Germain (Paris)

Funding

financial backing is difficult- as expand, need more money for materials

international- i.e. French designer financed by Japanese, and manufactures in Italy

several price levels so affordable- same look, different fabric, less extravagant cut

Clarification on Sections

It's easiest to read this blog in sections if you wish to separate the research from the reflections and the sketches from writing, however, as a pdf, this is impossible. I'm still pondering on how to separate it. Anyway, I wish to clarify on the sections and simplify them, so that when you are reading this and looking for certain aspects, you can see where everything is.

Research is categorized as follows:

• Research
• Learning
• Notes
• Inspiration

Hands-on work is under the following:

• Sewing
• Sketchbook
• Flat Sketches
• Learning

In Class and Mentor Meetings have their own separate sections
Planning is usually under Planning, but is sometimes under Research and the sketching sections as well

Fabric Paint

Curious about what the fabric painting book said, I decided to search how oils were different from fabric paint. I found the link below.
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4612055_fabric-paint-differ-oil-paint.html

It seems as though oils will be stiffer, and dry slower. They also crack if they are too thick. However, they are also very permanent.

Library Book 2

Fashion 101: A Crash Course in Clothing
By Erika Stalder

This is pretty much an illustrated encyclopedia of different types of classic garments. Everthing from the little black dress, to cargo pants is included in this book. I flipped through here, and got many ideas of how to do fusion, and who created these designs. The garments are divided by type (dress, shoes, pants, jewelery etc), illustrated, and then have blurbs titled: "What they look like," "Who made them," "Who made them hot," and "How to Rock Them."

I learned a lot about the names of these classic cuts, and could thus explain my ideas more clearly. For example, for my cowl dress, I wanted an A-Line skirt, which was first showed in public by Christian Dior in 1955, and was made popular by the fashionable London girls in the 1960s.

The book also contains small blurbs on certain periods and revolutions of fashion. For example, "The Shake of Youthquake," which talks about the 1960s fashion revolution in coralation to the women's liberation movement, civil rights, and protest on the Vietnam war. Instead of following the adult's fashion trends, the youth started their own lines, and created the mini-skirt.
Speaking of the Miniskirt
It was designed by Mary Quant and Andre Courreges separately (much like Newton and Leibnitz arguement over calculus, except less argued)
Made popular by British stars

I focused mainly on dresses, since they were the most fun for me to look at.

Some of my favorites:

Bubble Dress
Created in 1957 by Pierre Cardin
Worn by many stars, including Jessica Alba
Should be made of material that holds its shape

Cheongsam (after which my shirt is inspired)
Traditional Chinese dress made from brocade
First worn by Chines men in a loose-fitting version
Westerners adopted the style for women and made it tight-fitting in the 1950s
Calendar girls of the 1930s first introduced the dress to Westerners

Little Black Dress

Coco Chanel coined the term in 1926

Meant to be adaptable to flatter any body

Black previously meant for mourning- cuased an uproar, but became popular easy coctail dress

First commonly seen on Betty Boop. Most famous one is seen in Breakfast at Tiffany's

This book is so interesting, I would love to write a summary of the whole thing, leaving out no detail for you all, since history is something that truly fascinates me, however, I will now end with the blurb "Defining Dresses of the Decades," which had a chart stating which style and body type was popular during which time period

1950s- shirt style, hourglass figure

1960s- shift style, all body types

1970s- wrap style, curvy figure

1980s- pouf style, slender figure

1990s- slip style, waif figure

This book dates itself- it doesn't have the 2000s, but I would say mini style and thin and tall figure for today's dress code

Wait!!! There's also a page on necklines! there's the boat, cowl, crew, keyhole/cutout, mock, plunging, scoop, slit, square, sweetheart, V, butterfly, convertible, Peter Pan, and mandarin

Sleeves: Cap sleeve (I used this on my shirt!), doble cuff, french cuff, kimono sleeve, knit cuff, puff sleeve (on the design for the nest dress), single cuff, and three-quarter sleeve.

In short, a recommended read!

Library Book 1

How to Paint on Fabric: Freehand, Tracing, Stamping, and Stencil Methods for Beginner and Advanced Craftsman
By Marge Wing with N. Mahr, L. Young and G.G. Grimshaw

This book was attrociously old-fashioned. The pictures were really granny-like, and the paintings on the fabric were tacky. However, what I wanted was not how to paint, but how to apply paint to fabric. In this book, instead of using special fabric paints or acrylics (note, this book was written when drying machines were not commonly enough used to be mentioned in the book, and synthetic fabrics were considered new), the book uses oil paint, which is prefect, since that is the medium I work with best. It suggests that one puts a layer of cardboard, to pin the fabric to, and then paper to prevent the paint from seeping through. This is probably the most important information in the entire book. It also says to use enamel, and that without enamel, the oil paint is not permanant, however, a quick wiki search showed that enamel and oil paints together can be substituted with acrylics, which might be easier, since this way it's a one-step process. It also says to use "mineral spirits" as a paint thinner. If using oils, this is the equivalent of turpentine. If using acrylics, one can just use water.

Favorite Designers

DUDE!!!!
I just noticed, and I am severely lacking in photographs compared to how I started, and I haven't posted ANYTHING about my inspirations! Perhaps that should be saved for the presentation...? Nah!

1. Alexander McQueen
2. Oscar de la Renta
3. At Sew Green yesterday, we were working with tulle to make fairy tiaras (see Sew Green 6/2) and there was this show that had dresses made of tulle that were SOOOO COOL!!!! They were from www.style.com and the designer was Victor and Rolfe for Spring 2010. Check it out! This is deemed as "ready to wear." Like anyone would wear this on the street!!!
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2010RTW-VIKROLF 
(by the way, the reason why I didn't put pics up for this website was because blogger doesn't let you do copy and paste, and the pictures were not entered as separate .jpg sites

Sew Green 6/2

Today we made tiaras for the Ithaca Festival to fund raise for Sew-Green. We took a metal band, and then tied tulle around it, with flowers and ribbons. It was a lot of fun, and I ended up doing it for the whole time I was there. It was nice to take a break from sewing and give back to Sew-Green.

Sew Green 5/31

Today we were going to start the Nest dress, and at first, we laid out the pattern, and picked out the kind of burlap fabric I was going to use (I forgot the specific name on the spot, for some reason...) I draped it, and it worked well, but then I realized that the pattern had a cowl on the dress. Not only that, but there were no sleaves, and pleats in the wrong places. We started to cut the pattern, and try to adapt it, however it was off-center, and difficult to measure. Sew Green was really busy with apprentices that day, and after a while, Autumn told me that it wasn't going to happen. She told me that if we were to do this dress, she would be pretty much doing the dress for me, and that it would take all of our time. Stunned, I tried to think of how I could occupy myself for the rest of the time I had. I at first looked at the denim skirt, and started to aimlessly rip the seams of my torn jeans, trying not to despair. After a while, I jumped up and started sorting through the fabric I had, looking for something that I could use, and be inspired from. Finally, I settled on the purple stretch-fabric, and the white jersey. The jersey was plain, but the purple fabric was not enough. I decided to make the pattern just the way it was, and then paint the dress. But first, I had tape the pattern back together...
I pinned my fabric to the patterns, and started cutting the fabric. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and by the end of the day, I had only cut out the front and back, but I was glad to have gotten something done.

In Class 5/31

1. Distribution

• We need to send to our community evaluator, Ms. Lord, our Mentor, and our two classmates who are evaluating us the following:

1. Role of Evaluator sheet
2. Grading Rubric
3. print one copy of EVERYTHING for Ms. Lord. We can put our blog on a CD with the two papers listed above, but we should print the two papers as well in that case.

2. Double space
3. Write a closing entry

• Bring a copy of the final entry if it is not included in the copy submitted five days before

Sample Presentation
What worked?
What do you hope for your project?
What might you borrow?


Involving people by getting them to imagine really worked
I hope to borrow this by...

****SPOILER****


My project was inspired by nature
I can ask the audience to sketch a design which is inspired by nature
For me, I either create from transforming something from nature (Rooster dress), get inspired by nature (Owl Dress), or take from other drawings inspired by nature.

Carrie H talked about the former WISE students that she had talked to about their project, and one of them had been doing jewelery made from recycled materials. She had pictures in the background while she talked (I wanted to do the same!!! I want to have photographs of the sketches in a slideshow, and then the piece itself upfront. I want it to POP and be COLORFUL!!!)
She also had people working on creating jewelery while she was talking, which gave me the idea of having people design clothes while I talk...
Is that copying too much? I was thinking of having my sketches in the background ages ago, so...

Sample Presentation

Today I went to school again after WISE for Carrie's Sample Presentation. We were told to make notes on what we saw and how it related to our project. We were encouraged to think of the project as separate from the project process. We also made comments on what we liked, and what we didn't like. I've put my notes below:

• Looked at the crowd, didn't read notes too much
• some awkward pauses, but built suspense
• talked about how she got into poetry, and got into the project
• described what exactly spoken word poetry is (pretty much a performance of poetry)
• described what poetry slams were (poetry competitions)
• not used to competition, intimidating
• used lots of emotion- I was worried at one point that you would burst into tears at times
• very few "ums"!!!
• some humor- good, made us laugh, but did not quite understand the relevancy of math games
• eventually connected her friend's love for math games with her love for poetry
• sometimes slightly too personal for comfort when talking about friend and crushes, though that did bring drama and attention

•  Don't lift up your note cards!! ruins the illusion that you know it all- we can see them!
• like the variation in speed! kept us attentive
• drama
• what she took out of competition- became more confident, more daring?
• inspiration, poets she admires, names
• research comes out- cited a lot of YouTube
• but made it interesting by making it weaved in and giving us the interesting facts

• you don't have to tell us you don't have time to show us something- just don't show it
• warn me when you start your angry poems (or don't...)! caught my by surprise (which was probably the point)
• angry poem wasn't angry, but hurt. Perhaps you have more of a variety of emotions being expressed than you think. Try not to think of the whole poem as one emotion!

• learned new emotions over course of project- competition, outgoing, confidence
• ***** Made the audience participate!!!!!
• Unfortunately I did not have the courage to say what I actually wrote, which was actually pretty poetic, and instead just said that I really hated war. I wanted to share what I wrote, so I will share it here:

War
Makes my blood boil, especially stupid war
No offense... wait, yes offense!!
The war in Israel is moronic
The separation of Pakistan was unnecessary
The war against Terror didn't work during Bush
'Cause the dummy FUNDED his enemies! (slightly too harsh? Sorry...)
Iraq got turned upside down
Thanks to inexcusable warfare.
And these are just a few examples...
Don't argue with me. You know I'm right

• fooled around to get attention- eye contact
• pointed out someone texting!
• jaw dropped :)

Things I wish to borrow...
 ******* WARNING:  PRESENTATION SPOILER!!!! *******

• Can share emotions, thoughts, inspiration, insights, which I couldn't/didn't think to share in my journal
• idea: machines! I struggled with machines (and even the computer/blogger) and did not share this in my journal... oops!

The Evaluation

Positives

•  at journal entry 4/14, the tone of the journal changed, and then changed again after the poetry slam. Can hear the difference
• didn't use multimedia, just spoke, and thus enraptured the audience. Also, project vocal- it worked
• reflected on relationship with mentor
• embedded YouTube videos into blog
• contacted many people
• answered lists of questions in blog
• spent more time than needed
• paper journal worked for her
• edits in the journal

Negatives

• narrative lacked emotion in comparison to the rest of the project/presentation. Perhaps intentional? Contrast?
• miss expanding on things left unfinished in the blog
• YouTube used a lot in projects, but used real people as well- perhaps use less YouTube
• balance micro and macro more
• did not express enough goals
• wanted concluding entry ****
• don't get too cocky
• pursue people who ignore you

 Extra Thoughts

• Must practice presentation beforehand! I hate practicing beforehand, since I feel more nervous the more I practice, and like being spontaneous when I talk in front of people. It's more like an adventure that way. However, I'm definitely going to take time to organize my work, and lay out my time to take full advantage of my thirty minutes
• Judy said you can't just paint when you feel like it. You have to force it so that you can do it whenever. Eew... I don't like forcing it :( I'll leave that to other mediums. Some days, you just can't paint, or you can't sew. The machine always gets stuck, or the tension's stuck. Sometimes it just doesn't work!

What a Project Should Be

•  Difficult
• 1/2 hands on, 1/2 research *** NEED to get on that RESEARCH!!!!
• push limits
• expand world
• growth 

Sew Green 5/24 and 5/26

On these two days at Sew Green, I pretty much worked on my shirt. I realized that I couldn't double face the collar, and ripped those seams out, settling for a rolled hem, and then continued on to the bottom hem. Then on Thursday, I sewed on the sleaves. The sleaves took a while, since I went slow, but were not bad at all. The only problem is that they are sewn with the wrong side out (it was curling, and easier that way!)
I'm really excited to start the Nest dress. I have the zipper, the tulle, and even the pattern! Autumn is copying the pattern so that we can start immediately on Tuesday. Yay!!
By the way, in case you were wondering, I left on Thursday slightly early so that I could go to Carrie's presentation.

In Class 5/24

Today we shared our creative pieces, and were asked to write a letter to future WISE students on the following:
What do you know now that you didn't know in September (because of your experiences in WISE)?

Dear Future WISE Student,
When you think of entering WISE, you probably are thinking that it would be cool to learn a new trick, or to do something you've never done before. That's all good and fine, but when you think about what you're going to take from what you've learned, you probably won't be able to imagine how WISE would affect you in a deeper, less superficial way than just learning a new trade. For me, WISE opened my eyes to something much more profound. I learned that if I truly set my mind on something, I can achieve it. That was very important for me, since it gave me courage to enter my future education, which I have no experience in.
My project was to learn how to sew, design clothes, and make five full outfits. I ended up making only a few of my designs, however, I learned so much. My dad didn't even believe that it would be possible to make one dress, he later told me. At times, I doubted myself as well, but I ended up not only making a dress, learning to sew, and designing clothes, but I learned about the trade itself. I became more comfortable creating in this new medium, which, prior to WISE, I had been terrified of. Before, I hesitated at a machine, and shied away. Now I jump right on it, and I'm not afraid to try. By learning this new way of expression, I have gained confidence in my ability to learn, and that my perseverance will lead to success.

Good Luck!
Tara Lobo

Something I had forgotten to include in my letter, was that in the past I would often give up if I thought that the task was too daunting, but in this case, I had the courage and motivation to continue. It was worth it. I was also more realitic in my goals, lowering them when necessary, which perhaps helped me stay on track and not lose hope. Finally, I learned that sometimes, it's okay to let go and not be a perfectionist; no matter how badly you want every seam to be perfectly straight, it's not going to happen, so get over it!!

Mentor Meeting 5/19

I showed Ms. Lasher the t-shirt I was working on.
I then shared my plans for next garment- the nest dress!!!
My planned date for the presentation (the 17th of June) is all good.
I needed help with ideas on how to write the narrative and give a good presentation that did not repeat what was written in my journal.
At first, Ms. Lasher and I were really stumped. How could the journal only make up a small portion of the narrative and presentation, when the journal was recording everthing I did. But then I started thinking about interpretation. What are different ways I can interpret and present my project so that I can give it a new meaning in each medium, a paper and a presentation.
We decided that for the narrative, I would give more background and depth to my past in making me choose this project, what I learned and achieved, and how I will use this new understanding and knowledge in the future. This is the story on how WISE impacted my life, and how my journal gave me a new lense to look through.
As for my presentation, I was thinking of presenting each model, and include accessories and make-up. Ms. Lasher says that she and Ms. Affronti might be able to lend me some jewelery. Ms Lasher says she might have the prefect turquoise necklace for me to use. I also found two or three possible models, and one of them, Cassy, says that she would be willing to help me with make-up. She always has funky make-up on, and would perfect. I would then talk about my inspiration for the garment, how my inspiration transformed and changed, and background research on my sources of information, and the international cultures that I took tips from in making my garments.
Ms Lasher really gave me some great ideas, and I feel much more confident about my project now.

Sew Green 5/19

Gir forgot the pattern :( But she says she might be able to bring it on Monday. I should have gotten her cell so I could remind her, even though I don't have texting I could have called. I'm so glad she's letting me use her pattern. It's going to be so exciting. I should thank her somehow...
I worked on my t-shirt pretty much the whole time. I fitted the sides, which now fit very well. I then ripped a lot of seams around the neck, trying to have the collar lay flat, and each time I needed to finish them by sewing over them so they wouldn't come undone. It took a long time. Thankfully the cloth was forgiving, allowing me to rip the seams slightly easier, but the ends of the seams were difficult to take out. I then tried it out, and decided to fold he collar in half so that it's double sided, shorter, and more like a collar. Though it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be, and I'm thinking of ripping it out. The ends of the cloth kept on curling, making it very difficult to sew, and when I ironed it, the iron was too hot, and the cloth got shiny  :(
I'll fix it next time!
Oh! I forgot to add... I've become a lot more comfortable sewing now. I don't know when it happened, but I can now jump on a machine, and not feel intimidated. I think that that is the biggest step of all.

Sew Green 5/17

Normally I don't come to Sew Green on Tuesdays (though I was supposed to add Tuesdays on as I got more free in APRIL!), because I always seemed to have something going on, and believe me, I tried. But this Tuesday, I got done from my French Competition award ceremony on time, got a ride home, and drove down to Sew Green (it was rainy!).
At Sew Green, I met many other apprentices, and although the music taste was much quieter for this group of young girls, the conversation and enthusiasm was much more extreme, and there were more people than on Thursdays. Thankfully, my project wasn't occupying as much of Autumn's time as usual, since it was a pattern, and I sort of knew what I was doing.
Autumn was relieved that I hadn't cut the cloth yet, since she was worried that the head opening might not be big enough. I added more cloth when cutting, so that there was room for error. When I first folded the cloth in half, and laid out my pattern (which is only for half the shirt, by the way), I realized that I was pretty much cutting a hole in the middle of the cloth, and wasting a lot of fabric. So I folded it over twice, so that I was optimally using the fabric, and cutting out both the front and back of the shirt at the same time. I traced the pattern, and cut, and it worked like a charm. I then pinned the head opening and tried it out, and it worked just fine.
I proceeded to sew the shoulders and sides (though my machine's tension was a little messed up- the thread had come out of the bobbin tension), and then it was time to go already. I tried it on quickly, and realized that the body was WAAY to big! Well, at least it's not too small. I'll have to fix that next time...
Last thing: Autumn says that she can come to my WISE presentation. YAY!!!!! I'm excited and nervous too!

In Class 5/17

In class we were fixing any schedule problems and scheduling anyone who wasn't scheduled yet.
I was able to switch review days with Jordan (yay) so that my reviews are back to back, and it ended up being good for him too!
I need to talk w/ Ms Lasher Thurs and make sure all's okay with Friday the 17th
We then talked about the upcoming presentation, and how it should not include stuff from journal. That's tough, 'cause my journal is pretty much a running commentary of what I'm doing and what I've learned. However, no one has seen my finished garments yet, and perhaps I can do more research, and present that way... Need to think about this more.
Turned in poem for creative piece

Getting a Blog ready to Print

http://www.blogbooker.com/
http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

Returns

Today while running errands, I returned the horrible yucky linen, and the jacket pattern that I was never going to use, and bought a red zipper for a new dress I'm going to start instead. I saved a lot of money, and was much happier.

I then went home and fixed some of the side seams on my first dress that had gotten ripped when I had been to rough pulling the dress off. I realized that the single stitch seam is a lot less durable than the seams of those machines that cut the seam as they sew, and I have to be a lot more careful.

Library books

By the way, I borrowed library books about a week ago on sewing and fashion. I've flipped through all of them, and read some of them. I need to write up my research from them though!

Don't forget that journal entries still drafts in note form for:
Saturday Sewing
In Class
Sew Green

Sew Green 5/12

Today in Sew Green, I came in with my purchases from my Wednesday shopping session at JoAnn's, very disappointed with what I had bought. Autumn pulled out some stretch cotton (or Jersey) that she had saved up (so I will return the linen), and so now I have white cloth for my painted dresses. We also discussed what I would like to work on now that my dress is almost finished. I'm going to be working on my chinese shirt next, which should take very little time, since we can use a basic sloper (design for a shirt), and adjust it. After that, I'm going to start working on my burlap inspired dress (see the Nest), and use the tuil that I bought for that. It turns out that Gir has the perfect pattern for that dress, and I can just use hers! It's really fantastic, because I was having difficulty finding the right pattern, and she just happened to have the perfect one. She's going to bring it in next Thursday.
I then finished off my dress by cutting off the 8.5 extra inches of cloth, shaping the bottom like I had wanted it to be (like shirt tails of a man's collard shirt), which I did by hand, since it was faster, and easier for me (it came out pretty even!), and then doing a rolled hem along the bottom. The bottom seem is not perfect, since doing a rolled hem on a sharp curve is very difficult, but you can't really tell from a distance. Once the hem was finished, the dress was SOOOO much better! You'll get to see it next Thursday!!
Afterwards, Autumn and I set off to work on the shirt. First we took the basic sloper, and traced it on this thin, brown paper. The dart that was already pre-drawn on the template was elimated by rotating the sloper, and getting rid of the gap, since the cloth was stretchy, and had no need of a dart. We then measured my own body, to adjust the width of the pattern, extended the neck for a turtle neck, and made small cap sleeves (tiny sleeves on some t-shirts that only just cover one's shoulder). The sleaves were pretty much like small semicircles, which used the same curve as the arm hole curve of the sloper (which had been made steeper since the shirt would be a t-shirt, not a sleevless shirt).
I then cut out the pattern, and took it home along with my cloth to hopefully cut it over the weekend.

Wednesday Shopping/ Mentor Meeting 5/11

Shopping at Jo-Ann's was canceled Tuesday (Ms. Lasher had an unexpected meeting)
Wednesday, Ms Lasher had staff meeting, but I enjoyed the sun reading my book in the quad while I waited.
Then set off to Jo-Ann's
On the way, I discussed how I was going to change my project a little. Instead of making just what I had designed, I wanted to make one or two simple white dresses, and paint them like crazy. I've already learned quite a bit about sewing, and although I will progress with learning about patterns and such, I want to have fun with the project as well, and I feel like this will be a good release.
At JoAnn's, I was excited at first, but enthusiasm wore off
Lots of nice cloth, but not what we needed. I was looking for simple white stretch cotton (which I now know is called jersey), but they didn't seem to have some. After searching the whole store, and not finding the right pant material, jersey, or jacket material, I decided to give up and look at patterns instead. I found two (one for a jacket, and the other for a dress), but I'm not sure whether I'm happy with them. As for cloth, I found the tuil which I needed, but spontanenously settled for four yards (way too much) of a horrible linen, which I know I'm going to have to return. I guess I'm returning to JoAnn's. I might just return everything but the tuil, since I'm so frustrated. Sew-Green is so much better shopping. There at least I usually something close to what I'm looking for. At JoAnn's it was hopeless. At least the store clerk was very nice and helpful. She even gave me a coupon for 40% off. The total still came out to be around $40 dollars though, which is almost half of my total budget. That dumb linen is DEFINATELY going back!! I'll post the receipts soon.
THANK YOU SO MUCH MS LASHER FOR COMING WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!! You are the absolute bestest ever!
I'm sorry for using up your time! It was helpful though. I learned how people search for patterns (look at pictures in a magazine, and find the number in these huge drawers), and that perhaps JoAnn's isn't the best place unless I need things like zippers, threads, quilting material, or thin polyster material...??

In Class 5/10

I missed the last class because of my AP French test. I met up with Ms. Lord later, who caught me up with what I had missed. We had signed up for dates to peer edit and present. My WISE presentation is on Friday, June 17th. I am peer editing Wednesday on the 8th and 15th of June. I picked the latest possible date for my presentation because I really want the time to finish whatever clothes I will be working on, and I know that I will need the extra time to do the final touches on my dresses.
I also got a sheet outlining some requirements for my project. I have to write a 4-6 page narrative that will share what I did during my WISE project in a fun and engrossing way.
I then have to write a final bibliography which has a minimum of 10 sources (not that much at all! Especially considering how many we needed to find at the start of our project) and a minimum of two personal contacts. Easy
Along with the bibliography we need to write a two page commentary about how we handled our research, and how it relates to our project.
Finally, we need to share a draft of our narrative with our mentor and/or teacher, and five days before the presentation make copies of our materials and invite everyone to our presentation.
Another thing I learned!!!!!! The presentation does NOT have to be at the school!!!! I might want to do it at Sew-Green, though we'll see. That way I'll have mannequins and stuff.

Jellyfish skirt

This is a REALLY rought sketch, but it's based off of some white linen and blue Indian tie-dye material. I thought it might be fun to make over the summer if I don't get time during my project, since I don't think it will be too difficult.

Saturday Sewing

I bought a pair of jeans last week, but they were way to long. Today, I decided that I would use my sewing skills to fix another hem. But before I changed the thread color for my jeans, I would finish the rest of my dress.
I needed to change the needle from last time, when I had broken the needle in frustration (I had forgotten to put the needle up as I tore the dress from the machine in my frustration. Really really really bad!)
I finished the side seams completely, all the way to the bottom. They weren't symmetrical, but by that time, I was done because the usual problems of cloth slipping, needle tripping, etc. had caused me to have to rip seams about five times.
I wound the bobbin perfectly (but with the sewing machine instructions just in case) with the new thread for my heans, and moved on to my jeans. I changed the needle to a denim needle, and tried to use the thick thread commonly used for jeans, but it quickly got jammed in the machine. Thankfully everything survived. Using the same denim needle, but with normal khaki thread. It was difficult do to the side seams, which buldged and got in the way.
I had to rip seams about three times because wasn't perfect (hem wasn't even, or just got impatient and rushed it), and even then, it was still uneven.
I then ironed it out for a flat, even hem.
At least it still had its gorgeous flare!
Maybe I'll undo the hem in the future so I can wear the jeans with heels (I think that's what they were meant for, because they are the perfect length with heels).

Desigual

My parents recently got back from Spain, and they brought back some fantastic clothes! My mom had complained about how Spanish fashion was really drab... until she came to a store called Desigual. The clothes she brought back were far from drab. They were bright and fantastical. In fact, because of the bright colors, people would spot this new, popular brand on the street when my mom wore it in Spain. Everything else was plain, but Desigual was a splash of color in the middle of beige.
At first, I had thought that Desigual was an India brand. Desi means Indian, and the colors were so bright, I couldn't believe that they were coming from Europe. However, the cuts were very European. Looking at the US website unfortunately, the clothes do not stand out as much, since we use more color than the Spanish. Still, it's a fabulous (and very expensive) brand.

Sew Green 5/5

Fuel burned out! Will finish this soon...
walked- gorgeous trees/light/flowers- inspired!
got in, showed hiddeous mess of a dress I had messed it up at home (see Side Seams from Saturday)
ripped seams- actually becoming fun! This material is easier to rip out seams than others
tried to fit The dress wasn't laying down the front symmetrically. Something was not right
laid it out, averaged numbers- still not look right Turns out the averages were completely wrong anyway (just looking at it, you could see that it didn't fit the curve of a body. Pretty much the dress had been wrapped around, and totally asymetrical.)
Asked if we can measure body instead I actually took measurements of my bust, below the bust, waist and hips, and then measured how far down from my armpit each of these sections were, and then mapped them out on the cloth. This was by far the best part, since I could see the outline of a body forming as I charted it out.
much better curve The result
took LONG time I was charting out each and every point
finally pinned together two sides I had to pin together the two side seam lines, which is a lot harder than it seems, since they are on opposite sides. So pretty much I placed my finger on one side, and tried to match it up with my index finger on the other side. It didn't work perfectly, but oh well.
arm seam not long enough I didn't sew far enough up the side to the arm
SEWED SIDE SEAMS BIG accomplishment!
arm hole not meet properly...  back and the front not sewed up to the whole way, so the arm hole was connected unevenly
oh well!
finish bottom at home? bottom = bottom hem
bye bye!

okay, I'm looking at this later, and realizing that it is sort of cool. It's like poetry. I want to keep my journal entry this way, since it's raw, but has all the main points. I've added some clarifications so that people understand what's going on

Mentor Meeting 5/5

So my mentor meeting only happened today because I was absent on Tuesday. Ms. Lasher wasn't around during 2nd period, but I was able to meet up with her after school. I showed her my design for the next thing I'm going to do (the chinese styled t-shirt, which I have STILL not posted!!), and my dress so far. Perhaps I will request that we have mentor meetings on Thursdays again, since then she will be able to see the stuff that I am taking to Sew-Green. Yes, the dress was in it's tangled messy state, but it will be fixed today!
We also set a date for the fabric shopping expedition!! It will be this upcoming Tuesday!!! Yay! Ms. Lasher and I will meet afterschool, and then go SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!

In Class 5/3

May already!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry. Anyway...
I missed class on Tuesday because I caught a cold stressing over my chem/calc exam. Funny how that works, no? I seem to be getting sick an awful lot lately...
Back to the point. In class, I missed a lot of info/introductions about the following:

• I want to start with explaining about the citations because it's funny. For me.
• I asked one of my classmates, who said that over the weekend, due Monday morning promptly, we were supposed to hand in 10 citations that we used, with annotations. Turns out we don't have to do that (Ms. Lord clarified the misunderstanding to me later when I asked). I wonder how many people will turn this in to her :P
• Next, we had to fill out a mid marking period 4 student progress form, which IS due Monday. I already filled it out during my mentor meeting today and stuck it in Ms. Lord's mailbox.
• We DO have a ten source minimum requirement for the WHOLE project (it's so small!! I HOPE I've used way more!)
• We will get more details on project requirements soon... I think? Unless I missed this part... I need to double check

Still need to do:

• I have to sign up for a presentation date (oops... should have done that when I saw her today!)
• My creative Assigment is due 5/17
• Ask parents to evaluate projects at the end of the year
• Google IHS WISE program calendar

Slippery Side Seams

Today I tried to finish my dress. And failed. And gave up and threw it in a sack to be looked at during the next Sew-Green session. It was a mess
The first time I tried to sew it, I happily sewed along the pins in nice, symmetrical curves, and then found out that I had sewn the inner layer of the cowl straight across, making a the dress a size -.5 instead of a size 5. The stitches were also unfortunately very tight. So I made the stiches looser, and struggled to undo the seams for a good 45 minutes. I then tried again. And had pretty much the same problem. So I sewed the inner layer to the front of the dress before sewing the back and front together. And somehow I still failed. It was asymmetrical, tight, and when I tried to put it on, it looked like I had tried to squeeze myself into a tube of fabric. BAD!
I realized then that it was time to give up, and quietly put it away. I learned that sometimes, you have to set things aside and give up for the day, instead of struggling until you rip the dress in half.

Sew Green 4/28

Today I walked in to Sew Green hoping I would get to finish my dress. But I didn't. I almost did... sort of. However, I took my time and did my best. I first sewed the arm holes with a rolled hem. This takes me forever. By the time I finally finished, for some reason, it was almost time to go! Autumn quickly fitted the dress so that I could sew the side seams at home, and I happily packed up and headed home. It was a good day of work, even though I didn't get finished. Next time!!!
Also, for those of you who are interested (thank you Mr. Byrne), I did not get to walk to Sew Green :( My parents were out for a week, and I wouldn't have been able to have been able to get a ride home, so I took the car. Shame, shame on me! It was really hard to park because of an event on the commons too!

In Class 4/27

I missed class due to the aforementioned horrible flight delay, so I checked in with Ms. Lord.
She gave me Mr. Byrne's review, which I found very accurate and fair, and even a bit overly generous in areas. However, he said that I was "self-deprecative," which sort of took me by surprise, since he was talking about my feeling guilty for always driving...? Oh well. It was nice. I got to hear someone tell me I wasn't screwing up, which was great.
I also got an article about adversity and resilience. I'm not sure if I entirely agreed with the article. It said that resilience was taught by parents who let their children figure it out, or had to go through immense hardships, which, although it is certainly true in some cases, wasn't true for me. I led an extremely sheltered childhood. My mom was often there to help me and I never had extreme hardship. Sure, I was left to do my homework on my own, but in many cases I had my parents to turn to. However, my resilience wasn't due to independence, but due to stubbornness, and persistence. I just wouldn't give up. I am a perfectionist, and always like to get the job done. One of my challenges during this project however, is to build my defenses against wasting time on minor errors, like a crooked stitch. During this project, I'm learning how NOT to be such a perfectionist, and to let go a little by saying, "it's okay if it doesn't get done," or in other words, becoming less persistent. Why? Because then I would never get anything done! I find myself set back by my perfectionism, so I need to constantly remind myself that I'm only doing this to LEARN, not create just a dress!
Also, no one reviewed my journal :(
I did a review on paper since I wasn't able to access a computer over break, so mine will be posted soon, but I wish someone from class had read mine. I guess it's difficult since mine is kept private. Maybe I should open it up, but it's so personal, I'm glad it's not public.

Mentor Meeting 4/27

I missed my Tuesday mentor meeting due to my flight being canceled. I had to travel for 36 hours straight from Europe. It was evil.
So on Wednesday, we had a very short mentor meeting. I had just been scared witless by my french teacher, who had threatened to not allow me to take my final, and Ms Lasher was very good at cheering me up and helping me calm down. I felt bad for occupying her time talking about something unrelated to WISE, but I really needed to talk to someone about it.
Thankfully she got us back on topic, by asking about the dress... It of course didn't get finished, but it's supposed to be finished during the next session, so keep your fingers crossed!
We also talked about going fabric shopping. Ms. Lasher seemed excited about it, and I asked again if she was okay with going. She said of course, and I'm so grateful that she's offering her time to come with. She said we could go after school sometime. Yay!!
Then we were done, and I walked off to my doomed French final...

All Caught Up!!

Yay!!!! I'm all caught up and have posted everything. Please read them, since they are in the order of the day they happened, not the day I wrote them.
All I have left is the Partner Read and the Lists...

Sew Green 4/14

All righty! I've gotten a move on!
So I started out by showing Autumn my sketches based on the cloth I had gotten last time. I had done a Chinese-style turtleneck (which will be posted soon), which I actually really like. She thought it would be really cool and really easy to make, which was a confidence booster. I have all the materials for it as well (including the buttons!), so that makes it even better! I wasn't able to design anything for the blue cloth, and was going to give up, when I remembered I had had the idea of using it for my blue jay skirt. We had a short brainstorm, and then Autumn came up with the awesome idea of using different colored blue denim pieces for the skirt. It would look fabulous! I was really excited. So Autumn has some old jean fabric in her studio, and I have brought in an old pair of jeans that will be cut for their pattern, and then also used for the skirt. Turns out my project will be pretty green after all!
We then moved on to my dress. I pinned the sides of the dress for the side seams and marked them. I also marked the pins for the draping of the cowl, and then sewed the cloth along the pins. I found out that I really like the green sewing machine. It is quiet and smooth, and runs like an angel. I think I'll try and use it from now on. I like it better than my own machine! And also, today I was able to sew perfectly straight lines!Unfortunately the two sides did not come out even. I ended up sewing the seam again instead of ripping it, since it was a pretty tight seam, and then gave up when it was still uneven. One couldn't really tell, and I'm not in a fancy design school. It probably won't even show in the end.
I then learned sewed the hem of the back of the dress. This was hard. One had to roll it over twice, and roll it while you sewed it on a very thin hem. Autumn cut little slits to make it stay rolled, but then the slits got caught when I was sewing it. We ended up taking out the whole seam (Autumn actually took out most of it, saying that she was partially responsable, and though she wasn't, she's way faster at taking out seams than I am, so I ceded responsability), cutting the extra seam allowance (there was too much), and then after she started the first part (so that it stayed down), it was a lot easier to sew, and it ended up looking really professional! We then sewed the front and back sleaves together, and I tried it on like a smock. It was so cool! Next time we are definately finishing it!

I ran into Wendy towards the end. Thankfully, she barely remembered my name. She commented on how my progress was very slow, and I said that it was still awesome that I had almost completed my first dress. She misheard it as awful, but I made it clear that that was the opposite of what I had said.

Chinese Shirt Flatsketch

This is my flatsketch for my Chinese Shirt. It's not very complex, so I didn't add too much detail, since I couldn't think of anything else to add...

In Class 4/12

We were in the library today with the laptops. Unfortunately mine did not work, so I ended up in the computer lab, and I'm afraid Jordan succeeded in totally distracting me. However, since his project sounds very interesting, and I have no idea about what he's up to, I decided that I would do his journal for my Partner Read. We were assigned this today, and it is where we read another person's journal, and then evaluate it. I'm a little nervous about my own evaluation.
I also got the research from the research swap thing that we did. Chezna picked her favorite designer, Zac Posen, and talked about why she liked his work. It's really sparked my interest in finding out who he is, and what his designs are like. Unfortuantely his style isn't quite something I appreciate as much as others, however I found a really cool dress of his, and I really respect his boldness with color. I've put my favorite below, but there was another set that I really liked which had a virus or something on it, so I wasn't able to access it (and got out as fast as possible!!)

This is the one I like the most. I'm not quite sure about the sparkly stuff on the front (it sort of looks like a Christmas decoration) but I love the flow of the dress.
http://inspireandcharm.blogspot.com/2011/02/dream-valentines-day-dresses.html



This was a red carpet gown for Beyonce. I'm not sure if it's something I appreciate (even though my own prom dress is mermaid-style! haha!)



Mentor Meeting 4/12

Today Ms. Lasher and I once again talked about my last Sew-Green session. I told her about the t-shirt refashioning, and then how I had chalked, cut, and pinned my dress, and was ready to sew during the next session! I once again was saying how the dress woudl be finished by the next session, but it seems as though I've been saying that a lot, and it hasn't been happening. Oh well, we'll see. It will be finished when it's ready.
I also told her about how Autumn's been really worried about my project, and how I've decided that this project is not only going to test my skills, learning ability, and time management, but my perfectionism and patience. I'm going to have to try and be less of a perfectionist, because otherwise it will drive myself and others crazy. I just need to try my best, and know that I'm a complete amature, so I shouldn't be worried about perfection, but learning the skill. Thankfully, due to Autumn's expression of concern, I was able to reassure her, and thus myself, that it actually didn't matter how far I got with my project, just as long as I learn and have fun. I've definately convinced myself that my work will NOT be perfect, but it will be a great experience, lots of fun, and still look good.
The concern of cloth was discussed once again. Since I had been able to look through the cloth bins, I was able to sketch something to go with the orange fabric. It's Chinese-inspired, and I really like it! The blue cloth is still being difficult to decide, but perhaps I can use it for a dress of some sort.
Ms Lasher was also really nice in that she said she would be okay with going with me to go cloth shopping. I thought it would be really fun to have her along, and she could give me her opinion on the cloth. The plan is to go buy cloth the week after break, though this may be difficult since my parents will be out of town.

Behind

I am taking down notes and writing about what I'm doing, I promise, just on paper instead. Honestly, folks, with first math overload, then strep, then mono (which I just found out today I have!), and now finals, I'm exhausted, and can only use the computer for limited amounts of time. Besides, pencil and paper is more soothing. I promise, as soon as I can, I will transcribe everthing onto the computer. But not today...

Chinese Shirt

This is my design for my Chinese inspired shirt. The pants will be abandoned. The decoration will be handpainted.

Sew Green 4/7

When I walked into Sew-Green today, I was a little disappointed to find that I wouldn't be working on my project right away. But I quickly got over it, realizing that I was getting a ton of help, fabric, and fun for free, so I better be ready to help out when I can. Our task wasn't even work. It was fun too!
We were supposed to design and remodel t-shirts for Sew-Green's booth at an event in the Women's Center encouraging young teenage girls to be confident and outgoing. There were guidebooks on how to re-fashion t-shirts, and our job was to make a few demos, without sewing a single stitch! At first, I was perplexed. How am I supposed to do that?? But after flipping through the book, I found a t-shirt that had been made into a cowl, and since I've been in a total cowl-obsessed phase, I pounced on the opportunity and started cutting up the t-shirt, and weaving strips of cloth for making the seams. My cowl ended up looking pretty good! It wasn't as good as the demo (somehow they never are), but it was wearable! I'll be able to take it home and show you guys after the show.
After finishing the shirt (honestly I did it a little fast, not just because I was excited to see it made, but honestly because I wanted to move on as well). Autumn was a little panicked. She wanted to start all over with the draping, using a pre-made cowl as an example instead, since she was worried about it not looking like my sketch in the end. It was sort of nice to know that someone was concerned about my project, but also ironic that she was more worried than I was! I felt really bad for making her worry, and reassured her that during my project, one of my goals is to learn how to be less of a perfectionist (an new goal, which I've made up on the spot!), and that if I don't finish five pieces, that is absolutely okay, just as long as I learn more about making clothes. I wanted to learn how to drape a dress, and so it was okay if it wasn't perfect. It was a learning experience, and an experiment.
So I set to work with the design I had draped, and after unpinning it, I set to work using chalk paper and a pokey rolling tool to copy the pattern on the other side of the cloth with chalk paper. I did this by pinning the cloth directly in half, and then slipping the chalk paper under the cloth. I then pressed the pokey rolly thing into the cloth, and the chalk imprinted the other side.
I then added a one inch seam allowance to both sides. Afterwards, and this was the scary part, I cut the cloth along the seam allowance line! After cutting the cloth, I pinned it back up, and it looked like a dress! Yay! I've been told that next time I will be able to finish the dress, but I'm not sure. We'll see.

Towards the end, I was able to look in the fabric bin that Autumn brought in for me to sort through. It was very kind of Sew-Green to offer these fabrics for free! A lot of them weren't usable for my project, but I did find two pieces of cloth that were quite nice! There was an orange stretchy material, and a blue material. I took swatches of both (though I think I've lost them unfortunately!). My homework this week is to design a garment using this cloth, since I need other cloth to start my next few pieces.

Journals NEED TO DO!!!!

Mentor meeting
Lists
In Class

In Class 4/5

The class started out a little rocky. It seemed like a third of the class hadn't turned in their 3rd Quarter Evaluations, and got a zero. Ouch! Ms. Lord wanted us to learn that despite the class being WISE, deadlines would still be enforced, and that we shouldn't slack off. I was really glad I hadn't slacked off on my evaluation. Actually, I had sort of gone overboard on my evaluation, writing four pages. It was a way for me to evaluate my own work, and it really helped me see what I had done, and what I needed to do. I enjoyed the chance to be able to organize my outlook on the whole project. It wasn't my best writing (I did it pretty fast, honestly), but it was very useful.
We were also told that on Monday, 4/11 at 6:30, our journals would be distributed amongst others in the community in order for them to evaluate our journals! Fun fun! I hope they enjoy mine. I've put in a lot of effort trying to make it SHOW as well as tell.
We also were given an assignment to collect research for a peer. It will be due next class. I thought that I would do research for Katherine, since my line is inspired by birds, and she's doing a nature journal. I just found a cool website on birds, and I think it would be great for her (see Browsing).
Finally, a word of advice from Ms Gergley, which I must keep in mind- if it's ont in your journal, it didn't happen!

Mentor Meeting 4/5

Today I met with Ms Lasher as usual, and we had a very brief talk about what I did at my last sew-green session. I told her that there was a possiblity that I might complete the dress during the next session! We also talked about how, since the MUN team (of which she is the advisor) might be going to NYC, I might be able to take a detour during that trip!

Sewing at Home 2

So I finally tried to sew my pants again... and failed, again!
I first pinned them, which took forever, since it wasn't lining up right, and of course, perfectionist me would NOT let a single pin be crooked. I tried them out, made some adjustments, and set to work to sew them. I realized that the thread was not actually true black, but it was very very close (annoying...)
My hem was actually pretty straight, but I had sewn it towards the bottom of the fold I had made, which would cause the top to fold down. I didn't want to do two seams either. I slept on it, and the next day, I ripped out the whole seam. I need to stop being so OCD!! However, I have become VERY good at ripping seams (before I used to always snag the cloth by mistake, but by pulling the thread back and ripping the loops, it actually goes a lot faster, though it still took me more than an hour to pull out one seam).
Next time I'm going to do it right! I'm going to sew with a wider margin between the hem and the seam, and I'm going to IRON it beforehand! Ironing gives you a nice hem, so that you can sew even more perfectly, without bulges. Although others might not have to iron, I do, and I'm going to have to iron the bags for Sew-Green anyway, so while I'm at it, why not iron the pant's hems as well?

Sew Green 3/31

Today I walked to Sew-Green! I felt guilty for always driving, it was nice weather, my parents said they could pick me up when I was done. It was perfect! The walk was really nice and refreshing, and I got there 15 minutes early! I'll definately make a habit of this (despite the heaviness of the stuff I have to carry) if it's nice weather.
I started off at Sew-Green today by cutting out the front piece for my fabric. It was the same length as the first piece, just ten inches longer because of the cowl. I had brought in two old dresses and a shirt with a cowl. The old dresses will be used as scrap/inspiration/material, while the shirt I brought in to copy the cowl. I love that shirt. It's a purple, babyphat cowl necked shirt, and although I can't wear it easily in Ithaca, I wear it a lot to parties and in Miami. After seeing how the cowl looked when finished, and discussing some ideas on how I wanted it to look, I started draping the cowl. There will be enough cloth since Autumn decided that although draping along the bias would give a better affect (the fabric I'm working with is a little too heavy), draping along the lenghth will be fine.
Draping took me a long time, in fact, longer than it should have. I only got it off the mannequin towards the end of the session. I first pinned the cloth the way I wanted it (which took the most time), and then tried to smoothen the fabric along the body, getting rid of any puckers. I soon realized that due to the cowl, the boddice was never going to be smooth. Because of that, I thought, why not exaggerate the folds, and make tucks instead? Unfortunately, this idea was only thought of after an hour of struggling. I was being a little bit too perfectionistic, and perhaps something I really should learn during this project is to try one's best, but then let go a bit, and be willing to let a little bulge here and there go (or else I'll never finish!). Once Autumn approved my work, I drew with chalk the seam of my dress (litterally! right on the cloth, over all of the pins and bunches). I then kept the pins for the draping of the cowl, but removed all of the other ones and took the cloth OFF the mannequin! I was really impressed how litteral of a translation it was from mannequin to straight cloth. I thought it would be a lot harder.
I'm going to start sewing next time! So exciting!
I also asked for another copy of the sewing machine parts, so FINALLY I have the list! (I had forgotten it the first time, and kept on forgetting to ask for a new one). I know pretty much all of the parts, but it's nice to have a copy for reference.
I also asked for five more bags to sew for practice. This will kill two birds with one stone, since I can help kids by making school bags, and practice sewing at the same time (though we'll see how much time I get for that!)
Finally, I found out that Sew-Green actually has a box of patterns that I might be able to use/borrow! This will definately help me get a head start on making real clothes! Unfortunately the box was hidden today, and we were unable to find it. :( Next time!

Cowl Revisited

I revisited the cowl as well. I didn't want to make it on the diagonal, since that would waste a lot of fabric, and we might not have enough, so I came up with a cowl that would sling across the neckline, and be separate from the actual garment.

Necklace Design

This is a necklace that I designed for my owl dress. It's based off of a necklace in the Hardware episode of Project Runway Season 7. Maybe Chelsea can make this for me...? If not, that's okay. It was fun to think about.

Jacket Revisited

I was having some trouble picturing my jacket myself (this is the yellow jacket from my second sketch), so I revisited, trying to put more detail into just one view

Browsing

After going home, and finishing all of my homework, I decided to sit in bed and research pretty bird types. I had fun looking at pretty colors, and got some ideas, but nothing formed itself into clothing :(
Hummingbirds


http://www.animalwebguide.com/Hummingbird.htm















Kingfisher


http://planetbye.blogspot.com/2009/02/king-fisher.html



















http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2010/11/out-of-blue.html






























http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/slideshow/gallery.php?Show_ID=3&Slide_ID=209 Great source of bird pics! It also has small summaries about each type of bird- this may be a very useful source for Katherine!

I also found a neat video on the tastes of Men vs. Women in clothing. It wasn't extremely helpful, but it was interesting. I couldn't embed it for some reason, but the link is below
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/the-thread/why-do-men-hate-these-popular-trends-women-love-2467752/